Apparatus for applying liquid to the interior of a vessel in a spiral spray pattern



1968 R. A. FREEMAN ETAL 3,362,642

APPARATUS FOR APPLYING LIQUID TO THE INTERIOR OF A VESSEL IN A SPIRALSPRAY PATTERN Filed April 26, 1966 2 Sheets--Sheet l R. A. FREEMAN ETALAPPARATUS FOR APPLYING LIQUID TO THE INTERIOR OF A VESSEL Jan. 9, 1968IN A SPIRAL SPRAY PATTERN Filed April 26, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I 112/817 tars United States Patent APPARATUS FOR APPLYING LIQUID TO THE IN-TERIOR OF A VESSEL IN A SPIRAL SPRAY PATTERN Richard A. Freeman andThomas L. Murphy, Idaho Falls, Idaho, assignors to the United States ofAmerica as represented by the United States Atomic Energy CommissionFiled Apr. 26, 1966, Ser. No. 546,143 6 Claims. (Cl. 239-186) Theinvention described herein was made in the course of or under a contractwith the United States Atomic Energy Commission.

This invention relates to an apparatus for applying fluid to theinterior of an object. More specifically, the invention relates to adevice that can be readily inserted in a top opening of a vessel forspraying a large part of the interior of the vessel.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of the novel apparatus of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view of the upper part of theapparatus;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view, partly in section, of an intermediateportion of the apparatus;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 44 of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 55 of FIG. 3.

As shown in FIG. 1, the novel apparatus of the present inventioncomprises essentially a rotatable vertical shaft and a gun 11 mounted onthe shaft for vertical movement therealong in response to rotation ofthe shaft. Thus the gun 11 moves in a spiral path and is adapted tospray paint, dye, or water over an extensive area of the interior of avessel (not shown) such as a pressure vessel for a nuclear reactor. Thepresent apparatus will be applied to the vessel by insertion of theshaft 10 and gun 11 through an opening in the top of the vessel.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the shaft 10 has an upper part 12 which iscircular in section, extends through a housing 13, and is journaledtherein on two closely spaced ball bearings 14 at the upper end of theshaft part 12 and on a roller bearing 15 at the lower portion of theshaft part 12. The shaft 10 is rotated by a pinion 16 Which is keyed tothe upper end of the shaft part 12 between the bearings 14.

As shown in FIG. 1, power to drive the pinion 16 comes from an electricmotor 17 which is mounted on the housing 13. The motor 17 is connectedwith a speed-reducing drive 18, which, as shown in FIG. 2, includes agear 19 meshing with the pinion 16.

As shown in FIG. 2, the upper end of the upper shaft part 12 isconnected by means of a swivel 19a to an elbow 20, which is in turnconnected to a line 21 through which air or a washing liquid such aswater is supplied. The swivel 19a is so constructed that one partthereof connected to the elbow 20 does not rotate and another partthereof connected to the upper shaft part 12 does rotate. The upper part12 of the shaft 10 has an axial passage 22 which extends from the upperend of the part 12 in communication with the swivel 19a, elbow 20, andline 21 downward to a region that, as shown in FIG. 4, is near the lowerend of the housing 13. At this region the axial passage 22 is connectedthrough a short transverse passage 23 with a longitudinal passage 24,which is offset from the axis of the shaft 10 so as to clear a crossshaft 25 which extends through and across the upper shaft portion 12 andis rotatably mounted therein. The purpose of the shaft 25 will bedescribed presently. The upper shaft portion 12 has a side outlet 26leading to the longitudinal passage 24. A coiled tube 27 is connected atone end with the side outlet 26 and at the other end, as shown in FIGS.1 and 3, with the gun 11. Because the tube 27 is coiled, it connects theside outlet 26 with the gun 11 at all times, regardless of movement ofgun 11 along the shaft 10.

The gun 11 is attached to a carriage 28 which surrounds a lower part 29of the shaft 10. As shown in FIG. 5, the lower shaft part 29 is hollowand rectangular in section and is engaged on four sides by rollers 30mounted in the carriage 28. By virtue of this arrangement, the carriage28 and gun 11 may move vertically along the lower shaft portion 29without rotating with respect thereto. The lower shaft part 2.9 issecured by screws 31 to a rectangular lower extension 32 on the uppershaft part 12 so as to rotate therewith.

As shown in FIG. 3, the upper shaft portion 12 has opposed lateralprojections 33 through which the cross shaft 25 extends. Thus thesupport of the cross shaft 25 in the upper shaft part 12 is increased.One end of the cross shaft 25 is fixed to a bevel gear 34 meshing with afixed crown gear 35 attached to the lower end of the housing 13. Theother end of the cross shaft 25 is fixed to a spur gear 36 meshing witha spur gear 37. The spur gear 37 is secured to a shaft 38- which extendstransversely to the upper shaft portion 12 and is rotatably mountedthereon. A sprocket 39 is secured to the shaft 38 and meshes with theinterior of the upper end of a sprocket-chain loop 40. As shown in FIG.1, the interior of the lower end of the sprocket-chain loop 40 isengaged by an idler sprocket 41 carried on an idler shaft 42 mounted atthe lower end of the lower shaft portion 29. A base member 42a for theshaft 10 is secured to and within the lower end of the lower shaftportion 29. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, a bracket 43 attached to thecarriage 28 is secured to one side of the sprocket-chain loop 40 by achannel 44 and bolts 45. The bracket 43 and channel 44 clamp the oneside of the sprocket-chain loop 40 between them, and the bolts 45 passthrough the bracket, the channel, and the one side of the sprocket-chainloop.

Referring to FIG. 3, when the shaft 10 is rotated with respect to thehousing 13 and the fixed crown gear 35, the bevel gear 34 revolves inmesh therewith about the axis of the shaft 10 and so is made to rotateabout the axis of the cross shaft 25. This shaft, being fixed to thebevel gear and to the spur gear 36, rotates and causes the gear 36 torotate. This rotation is transmitted to the spur gear, shaft 38, andsprocket 39, and movement of the chain loop 40 results. Since thecarriage 28 is attached to the chain loop 40 by the bracket 43, channel44, and

bolts 45, the gun 11 moves with the chain loop 40, that is, verticallyalong the lower shaft portion 29. Since the lower shaft portion isrectangular in section and is engaged on all sides by the rollers 30 ofthe carriage 28 for the gun 11, the gun rotates with the shaft 10, butnot with respect thereto. Thus, in summary, the shaft 10 and the gun 11rotate jointly, and at the same time the movement of the sprocket-chainloop 40 due to rotation of the shaft 10 causes the gun 11 to move alongthe lower shaft portion 29. These rotary and longitudinal movements ofthe gun 11 are combined into a spiral movement, which enables the gun todeliver liquid over an extensive area of the interior of a vessel.

In operation, the apparatus of the present invention is lowered by means(not shown) into a vessel to be treated so as to have the base member42a rest on the base of the vessel and the axis of the shaft 10 to be onthe axis of the vessel. The top of the vessel will be somewhat below themotor 17. In succession the apparatus may apply dye, wash, and developerto the interior of the vessel in order to test whether the lining of thevessel may be penetrated and thus to indicate how successfully thevessel will be at keeping radioactive matter from escaping'Forapplication of dye, air is delivered to the gun 11 through the line 21,elbow 20, swivel 19a, passages 22, 23, and 24, outlet 26, and coiledtube 27 to the gun 11, from which dye is sprayed. For application ofwash, a by-pass valve (not shown) above the spray gun 11 causes watersupplied by the line 21 to be delivered independently of the spray gun.For application of developer air is again supplied by the line 21 to thepresent apparatus and causes developer to be delivered by the gun 11.

It is also understood that the invention is not to be limited by thedetails given herein but that it may be modified within the scope of theappended claims.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property orprivilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. An assembly comprising a rotatable shaft having a longitudinalopening extending from one end for an appreciable distance toward theother end, means positioned at said one end of the shaft for supplyingfluid to the longitudinal opening therein, the shaft having at anintermediate region a side outlet communicating with the longitudinalopening, a fluid gun mounted on the shaft for rotation with the shaftand for longitudinal movement with respect to the shaft along regionsthereof between said other end and the side outlet, means connecting theliquid gun with the side outlet in the shaft, and means for moving thefluid gun longitudinally of the shaft in response to rotation of theshaft.

2. The assembly specified in claim 1, the means connecting the fluid gunwith the side outlet in the shaft being a coiled tube.

3. The assembly specified in claim 2, the means for moving the fluid gunlongitudinally of the shaft in response to rotation of the shaftincluding a fixed crown gear coaxial with the shaft, a bevel gearmeshing with the crown gear, and an auxiliary shaft keyed to the bevelgear and being mounted on the previously mentioned shaft for rotationWith respect thereto about an axis transverse thereof.

4. The assembly specified in claim 1, the means for moving the fluid gunlongitudinally of the shaft in response to rotation of the shaftincluding a fixed crown gear coaxial with the shaft, a bevel gearmeshing with the crown gear, an auxiliary shaft having one end keyed tothe bevel gear and extending through the previously mentioned shaft forrotation with respect thereto about an axis transverse thereof, asprocket-chain loop extending along the shaft from a region adjacent theauxiliary shaft to a region near the said other end thereof, meansdrivingly connecting the sprocket-chain loop with the end of theauxiliary shaft opposite to the end keyed to the bevel gear, and meansconnecting the fluid gun with the sprocket-chain loop.

5. The assembly specified in claim 4 and further comprising a fixedhousing journaling the first mentioned shaft and having one end adjacentsaid one end of the first mentioned shaft, and means attaching the fixedcrown gear to the end of the fixed housing opposite the said one endthereof.

6. The assembly specified in claim 5, the portion of the first mentionedshaft between the said other end and a region near the side outlettherein being hollow and rectangular, the assembly further comprising acarriage for the fluid gun surrounding said hollow rectangular portionand having rollers engaging the sides thereof.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,082,330 6/1937 Frede et al239227 2,109,075 2/ 1938 Ruth 239227 2,754,227 7/ 1956 Ransburg 118-323X 2,765,198 10/1956 Briggs et al 239186 3,169,706 2/1965 Ross 239-186 M.HENSON WOOD, JR., Primary Examiner.

VAN C. WILKS, Assistant Examiner.

1. AN ASSEMBLY COMPRISING A ROTATABLE SHAFT HAVING A LONGITUDINALOPENING EXTENDING FROM ONE END FOR AN APPRECIABLE DISTANCE TOWARD THEOTHER END, MEANS POSITIONED AT SAID ONE END OF THE SHAFT FOR SUPPLYINGFLUID TO THE LONGITUDINAL OPENING THEREIN, THE SHAFT HAVING AT ANINTERMEDIATE REGION A SIDE OUTLET COMMUNICATING WITH THE LONGITUDINALOPENING, A FLUID GUN MOUNTED ON THE SHAFT FOR ROTATION WITH THE SHAFTAND FOR LONGITUDINAL MOVEMENT